Wandering Wednesday – Rome – Day 4

It has been a while since I last posted about our time in Rome. Suffice it to say that I am still very much in awe of this place. On this day, we were with our English relatives and decided to spend the day at the Colosseum and the Forum. These were (are?) extremely impressive places. It literally took us all day to see these two areas and was well worth the price of admission, although, as it turns out, if you are an archaeology student, with the proper ID, you get in free. Gloating is allowed.

I really don’t have much to say. The places are well-known, and pictures don’t particularly do them justice, so I’ll just post them with minimal discussion.

The exterior view of the Colosseum. It is impossibly large.

The inside is crazy. You can see the corridors and galleries that were once covered with the arena floor.

You have probably seen the vendors who sell these brutal excuses for umbrellas, and probably wonder who on Earth would buy them. I happen to know 2 people who have indeed purchased these works of rip off art.

Once we were done, our friends headed back to their hotel and we set out to do something that was featured in a movie, Bocca della Verita, the mouth of truth, Rome’s ancient lie detector. Legend has it that you stick your arm in its mouth and tell a lie, it bites off your hand. It is found at the Santa Maria in Cosmedi church. There is usually a lineup and it costs a donation to the church to have your picture taken.

In hindsight, I should have used my left hand, but it all worked out. I survived.

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

About John

I enjoy travel, sports, music (a dedicated site at http://therealcanadianmusicblog.com/) and anything else that jumps up at me for the moment, which is why I blog. There will be lots of travel posts, pictures and our videos as well as a smattering of sports and humour. I enjoy promoting Canada and am unabashedly a proud Albertan

I think the movie you mean is Roman Holiday. The umbrellas look a bit Oriental, or at least Hello Kitty-ish, so I don’t know how it fits the whole vibe there. I am thoroughly relieved to not see you under one.
You seem to be having a ball. Keep at it!

Yep. That was it. The best part if the umbrellas was the negotiating. They asked how much. He said 9 euro each. They said ok. John English heard this and yelled out NO. 9 for both. The poor guy thought he had some marks. John got him down. Can’t remember but it wasn’t 9 each.

The Forum was what took me for a ride when I went to Rome. There was something so fantastic about standing in the middle of the ancient structures, closing my eyes, and (as you said) imagining it in full splendor. I also loved how there was a chronology to the structures and it was interesting travelling forward in time

The Real Canadian Music Blog: The Real Canadian Music Blog

Good evening folks. This is the answer to the most asked question of the week, what is the number 1 song in Alberta, Canada this week. The answer, according to CKUA radio, available around the world at CKUA.com is ….Catfish Blues, a catchy number by BMW: Belzner, McLean, Williams. Enjoy. If you like, lots more […]

I always enjoy promoting Canadian talent, especially if they are from Calgary. Kate came to my attention in January of 2019 and I am just getting around to introducing you to her now. A bit of a brain break. Kate Stevens is singer songwriter in the story teller vein. She has a very nice voice, […]

Do you know this song? Or this one? Both were written by Allee Willis, who passed away on December 24th of heart failure. A prolific writer, she was nominated for a Tony for A Color Purple soundtrack and won a Grammy for the same as well as several other nominations and wins at […]